Fully Funded PhD Programs in Clinical Psychology

Dec 18, 2018
A picture of the Victoria Building at the University of Liverpool in England, which offers a fully funded phd in clinical psychology. The Victoria Building holds historical significance because it was the first purpose-built building for what was to become the University of Liverpool, with accommodation for administration, teaching, common rooms and a library.
A view of the Victoria Building at The University of Liverpool, which offers a Fully Funded PhD in Clinical Psychology.

Last updated November June 22, 2023

As part of our series How to Fully Fund Your PhD, here is a list of universities that offer fully funded PhD programs in Clinical Psychology. A PhD in Clinical Psychology opens the door to many opportunities, leading to careers in academia, private practice, and medicine.

Fully funded PhD programs in Clinical Psychology are those that offer a financial aid package for full-time students that provides full-tuition remission in addition to an annual stipend or salary for the duration of the program, which is usually 3-6 years. Full funding usually comes in the form of a graduate assistantship, with the expectation that students will teach or complete research in their field of study. Not all Clinical Psychology PhD programs offer full funding to their doctoral students, which is why researching the financial aid offerings of many different programs, including small and lesser-known schools both in the U.S. and abroad, is essential.

In addition to listing fully funded PhD and Master’s programs, the ProFellow database also includes external funding opportunities for graduate school, dissertation research, fieldwork, language study, study abroad, summer work experiences, and professional development.

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1. Arizona State University

(Tempe, Arizona):  The Arizona State University Department of Psychology offers a fully funded PhD in Clinical Psychology. Full-time doctoral students, in good standing, receive a 20-hour-per-week graduate teaching or research assistantship, full-tuition, and a stipend of $18,564 for nine months (pre-masters) and $19,064 for nine months (post-masters). The program prepares students for professional careers in research, teaching, or clinical supervision, through high-quality, science-based training. The goal of the program is to train students for careers in academia and research institutes to conduct research to advance clinical science and to teach future generations of clinical scientists.

2. Fordham University

(New York, NY):  The Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program (CPDP), within the Psychology department at Fordham University, offers a fully funded PhD in Clinical Psychology. The program offers all admitted doctoral students, who remain in good standing, 4 years of tuition remission and a stipend for each academic year. The goal of the program is to prepare students for careers in research and teaching and to provide students with the scientific background and clinical skills necessary to engage in clinical practice. The program challenges students to integrate their scientific research with clinical work and to study areas in clinical psychology, including Child and Adolescent, Clinical Neuropsychology, Forensic, and Health specialties.

3. Harvard University

(Cambridge, MA): The Harvard University Department of Psychology offers a fully funded PhD in Clinical Psychology. All admitted doctoral students receive fellowship packages with up to 6 years of tuition, 3 years of 10-month support, 4 summers of research fellowships, and the guarantee of a Teaching Fellowship for the 3rd and 4th years. The Clinical Psychology Program trains clinical psychologists to conduct research using evidence-based methods of assessment and clinical intervention to advance scientific knowledge of psychopathology and its treatment, especially in severe psychopathology.

4. Louisiana State University

(Baton Rouge, LA): The Lousiana State University (LSU) Department of Psychology’s Clinical Psychology Training Program (CPTP) offers a fully funded PhD in Clinical Psychology. All admitted doctoral students receive a full-tuition waiver, a stipend of approximately $15,050 per year, and a graduate assistantship. The CPTP program is didactic and experiential. Students complete coursework, attend practicum supervision meetings, shadow senior graduate student therapists, and gain direct supervised clinical experience through their practica. After students complete a minimum of 24 credit hours practicum, they are required to complete a formal, one-year, full-time pre-doctoral internship at an APA-accredited internship program.

5. Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine

(Chicago, IL): The Northwestern University Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine offers a fully funded PhD in Clinical Psychology. All admitted doctoral students receive a Research Assistant Scholarship, or equivalent award, that provides full-tuition remission, health insurance, and a monthly stipend. The goal of the program is to educate and train students for clinical and research positions in academic medical centers and related healthcare settings. Students receive intensive research training, and in addition to coursework, students complete research apprenticeships within their primary mentor’s lab.

6. Rutgers University

(New Brunswick, NJ): The Rutgers University Department of Psychology offers a fully funded PhD in Clinical Psychology. All admitted doctoral students are guaranteed 5 years of funding, provided they remain in good standing, which includes full-tuition, a 10-month stipend or salary, and health benefits. Additional funding summer funding is also available. The Clinical Psychology program is designed for students who want to conduct clinical research and become a practicing health service psychologist. Upon completion of the required coursework, research, and clinical training, PhD students complete their clinical requirements with a one-year psychological residency.

7. University of Liverpool

(Liverpool, UK): Available to EU citizens only, the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology is a 3-year full-time programme fully funded by the National Health Service (NHS). Trainees are registered postgraduate students in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences and employed within Mersey Care NHS Trust.

8. University of Maryland

(College Park, MD): The University of Maryland Department of Psychology offers a fully funded PhD in Clinical Psychology. All admitted doctoral students are provided tuition remission of up to 10 credits per semester and financial aid in the form of a fellowship or graduate assistantship for the first 5 years. The Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program seeks to understand human behavior across the lifespan and provides clinical training in both child and adult assessment and intervention. The program uses a mentorship model to provide rigorous research training that emphasizes the use of research findings to further understand clinical phenomena and develop clinical interventions.

9. University of Michigan

(Ann Arbor, MI):  The University of Michigan Department of Psychology offers a fully funded PhD in Clinical Psychology. All admitted doctoral students receive a financial aid package that combines Research Fellowships and Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) positions for a total of 5 years of full-tuition support. The Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program aims to advance scientific research in all aspects of clinical psychology. Research areas currently include cognitive and affective neuroscience, behavioral endocrinology, developmental psychopathology, risk and resilience, violence and trauma, and cross-cultural investigations of clinical problems and these approaches span traditional diagnoses including addictive, affective, psychotic, anxiety, traumatic, and disruptive behavior.

10. University of Minnesota

(MinneapolisMN): The University of Minnesota Department of Psychology offers a fully funded PhD in Clinical Psychology. All admitted doctoral students, who remain in good standing, are guaranteed 5 years of financial support, including full-tuition, subsidized health insurance, and a 9-month stipend. The Clinical Science and Psychopathology Research (CSPR) program trains students to become academic clinical psychologists or research scientists. The program combines rigorous research training in psychopathology and clinical assessment and intervention. CSPR consists of an “adult” track and a “developmental” track.

11. University of Southern Mississippi

(Hattiesburg, MS): The University of Southern Mississippi Department of Psychology offers a fully funded PhD in Clinical Psychology. Students receive a graduate assistantship that provides a full-tuition scholarship and a 9-12 month stipend, and include teaching and research assistantships, and paid clinical externship positions. The program trains evidence-based approaches to the assessment and therapy of clinical problems, through small cohorts that allow for individualized training, with an emphasis on cognitive and behavioral orientations.

12. University of Vermont

(Burlington, VT): The University of Vermont Department of Psychological Science offers a fully funded PhD in Clinical Psychology. The Clinical Training PhD Program provides funding for every PhD student, each year that he or she is in the program and on campus. The program seeks to produce clinical psychologists who are trained to generate research, work with patients, and teach psychological material from a scientist-practitioner perspective. It is a mentor-based training model that stresses early and ongoing placement on a clinical practicum team, simultaneous research training relevant to clinical problems, rigorous course work, and selected teaching experiences.

13. Vanderbilt University

(Nashville, TN):  The Clinical Science Program in Psychological Sciences at Vanderbilt University offers a fully funded PhD in Clinical Psychology. All admitted PhD students receive funding for up to 5 years of study, including full-tuition, a competitive monthly stipend, and health insurance. The goal of the program is to train clinical scientists. It enables students to concentrate their training and develop specialized expertise in areas such as psychopathology, developmental psychopathology, adult psychopathology. In addition, a select group of qualified students is nominated for additional honor scholarships and fellowships awarded by both the college and the graduate school.

14. Yale University

(New Haven, CT): The Yale Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology offers a fully funded PhD in Clinical Psychology. The program provides all admitted graduate students, who remain in good standing, full-tuition and a stipend (including summer funding) for up to 5 years. The program is primarily research-based. Students are expected to develop independent research under the supervision of faculty. This program is ideal for students who desire to begin an independent, structured program of clinical science research and are likely to emerge as leaders in the study of psychopathology and its treatment. The program is not a fit for students primarily interested in clinical practice.

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